In the art of shingle manufacture, shingles are generally packaged in bundles, with a cardboard kraft paper, a liner layer, or a corrugated paper-based material or like wrapping material disposed about a given number of shingles.
However, aside from the shingles that are conventionally used in roofing, it has become desirable to provide specialty shingles, such as for use along hips, ridges, or rakes of a roof, with such specialty shingles being generally smaller in size than conventional roofing shingles.
In some installations, conventional roofing shingles are cut apart to form smaller shingles that are used on hips, ridges or rakes of a roof. However, the use of such portions of shingles does not provide an appearance that is as ornamental, with a finished look, as can be provided by the use of specialty shingles that are made specifically for the purpose of being used on hips, ridges, and/or rakes of roofs.
It is also sometimes desirable that specialty shingles may have variations in thickness that have to be accommodated in packaging. It is also desirable that sometimes specialty shingles are provided with a three-dimensional aspect, such as being pre-folded or pre-bent to accommodate included angles where there are intersecting surfaces of hips, ridges, and/or rakes of a roof, so that the specialty shingles do not have to be bent or folded at the site of application where, depending upon temperature conditions, they might otherwise develop cracks if they are bent or folded at the site of application.